WAtoday.com.au reporter

The Australian premiere of Satellite Boy made for a unique screening at Somerville auditorium; not only were kids running around giggling, screaming and playing chase in between the patrons, but those very kids appeared on the giant screen nestled between the pine trees moments later.

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Satellite boy hits PIAF

WA-made film Satellite Boy is the first local feature selected to play at the Perth International Arts Festival in it's 60-year history after its world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Australian premiere of Satellite Boy made for a unique screening at Somerville auditorium; not only were kids running around giggling, screaming and playing chase in between the patrons, but those very kids appeared on the giant screen nestled between the pine trees moments later.

The first-time actors, 12-year-old Cameron Wallaby from Fitzroy and 13-year-old Joseph Pedley from Broome, flew into Perth with director Catriona McKenzie for the premiere, which was also the first Western Australian film ever shown at the 61-year-old Perth International Arts Festival.

It was the first time the boys had seen each other in quite some time and their innocent nonchalance for the rigidity of usual protocol was a perfect introduction for a film about friendship and love overcoming economic interests.

Satellite Boy is now showing at Somerville, then at the Joondalup Pines.

"Satellite Boy is about a little boy that has to make a decision about the sort of person he wants to be. It's an allegorical tale about what it is to be alive and the choices you make," said McKenzie.

"But then Pete goes on a journey to save his home [from mining development] and he's faced with all the stuff his grandfather was trying to teach him that he rejected and it actually saves his life when they get lost in the desert. So he's faced with this interesting sort of mirror of 'oh, actually my grandfather loves me and was trying to help me'. It opens his heart to what it is to love someone."

The premiere was something of an early birthday present for the young star Wallaby, who celebrates his thirteenth birthday today; a long way from the boab tree McKenzie found him under during her swag-laden search throughout the Kimberley.

"We were in Fitzroy Crossing and saw a little boy out playing with the boab nuts under a tree and said 'Go on, get in there, have a go,' and it was really a chance thing," McKenzie said.

"He was so natural and has this incredible imagination and he took me on this journey; he turned this room in a community centre into the bush."

For Wallaby and Pedley, their mutual learning experience bonded them and has encouraged them to pursue future film opportunities.

"With the help of Cameron I felt at home," Pedley said.

"It was a good experience with Cameron because we were both in the same boat. He didn't do a film before and I didn't and so we could help each other.

"If I was feeling down, if he was feeling down, I would always encourage him and he would always encourage me to keep going.

"It's a good experience, acting, and if the opportunity comes again I'll take it but just gonna focus on school til then."

The feature, which cost $2.5 million, was the first to ever be filmed in the Kimberley's beautiful Bungle Bungles.

With the Toronto International Film Festival already under its belt and another festival (yet to be revealed) on the horizon, it's bound to function just as much as a tourism ad as anything else.

"WA is a very special place and the Kimberley is the jewel of that," McKenzie said.

The film is bound to touch a nerve with Australians, who know all too well the tale of mining companies encroaching on Aboriginal land, but McKenzie insisted the movie isn't meant to spark debate.

"I didn't want it to be a political film," she said.

"I wanted to tell a story that was very simple but very universal so it didn't matter whether you were in Japan or Russia or anywhere in the world. The relationship between grandson and grandfather is universal, anyone can relate to that.

"It's a bit of heart and a bit of spirit and a bit of luck."

Satellite Boy shows December 10 – 16 at Somerville and December 18 – 23 at Joondalup Pines as part of the Lotterywest Film Festival.